IKEA is known for their inexpensive, assembly-required home furnishings.  You can use their products as-is, of course, but many people who are much more creative than me have come up with awesome ways to transform the simple IKEA merchandise into something amazing.  It's called an  IKEA "hack."  There's even a website dedicated to the results. 

Here's my favorite non-decor hack -- a hamster cage made from an IKEA Expedit bookcase.  What a lucky hamster!


But back to decorating.  We all have those products that we crush on but know we'll never be able to afford.  Jenny at Little Green Notebook thinks the iconic and very expensive (think thousands of dollars) Sputnik chandelier is quite dreamy.

She knew an actual vintage Sputnik wasn't in the cards, so she came up with her own idea.  Enter the IKEA Maskros Pendant Lamp.


The Maskros is made up of many spokes, and many paper flowers that attach to the end of the spokes.  Jenny cut down the diameter of each flower, and painted them gold.  She then glued a little plastic bowl to the outer side of each flower.  She also painted the rest of the Maskros parts gold.


When it was finished, her creation looked like this:


Amazing and so chic!  Check out the rest of the pics and the step-by-step process at the Little Green Notebook, which is one of my favorite blogs.

Our next hack comes from Cristi at Charm Home.  She wanted a graphic rug for her son's nursery but after just going through a house move (while 8 months pregnant, no less), she realized her dream rug was not going to fit into the budget.  Instead, she bought the plain, flat-weave IKEA Erslev Rug for only $40, and some contact paper (the kind you line drawers with).  She cut a repeated pattern into the contact paper and stuck it in rows to the rug to use as a stencil.  Here it is mid-process.


And here's the nursery with the completed rug:


Visit Charm Home for more photos and DIY instructions.  Cristi is a talented designer, and her blog always inspires me.

My last hack example comes from across the pond, via Signed by Tina.  By the way, be sure to visit her site and check out her home tour.  Her black/white/gray/silver color scheme is very glam!  (FYI -- Tina is Swedish, I believe, but she has a translator tool on the right-hand column so that people all over the world can read her posts.)

Tina used IKEA's Besta cabinets in a glossy white finish.  After lightly tracing a pattern on the doors of her cabinet, she nailed upholstery tacks into the doors to create these glamorous pieces for her living room and bathroom.



I am in love with nailheads, so I am so impressed!  Someday I will come up with my own nailhead hack.  In the mean time, here's Tina's tutorial.

What do you think of all these ingenius designs?  Impressed?  If you've got your own ideas, do share!